Sedgley loses its market, as today was last day of trading

Express & Star

We chat to traders and customers at Concord Market in Sedgley which after today is no more.

Transcript

00:00So yeah, we're here with Nathan inside of Concord Mock, obviously it's the last day, how's the emotion so far?

00:07A bit down at the minute, but not too bad. For myself personally, it's a bit positive because I'll be going to Royal Yule.

00:14But the other traders have been a bit down at the minute.

00:17Absolutely, yeah, it's a bit of a shame isn't it, because it's got such a long history behind it.

00:201970...

00:2248 years I think.

00:23Yeah, yeah, 48 years.

00:24That's an amazing amount of time.

00:25I know, yeah, I've been here four years now.

00:28What's the general consensus from the other shopkeepers?

00:32Jess is trying to find a shop to move into.

00:35Donna on the pets is doing it online.

00:37I know the bread stall, at the minute they're moving to the Spud Oven.

00:40They're selling all the bread there.

00:43It's quite nice seeing everyone coming together and helping out where they can,

00:46out of pack and pour, trying to find new locations.

00:48There was a bakery there in the way as well,

00:50and said that they had moved to another shop there.

00:52Temporarily moved to another shop in the town.

00:55Which is fantastic, because everyone seems to be coming together.

00:57Yeah, we're all trying to, yeah.

00:58Ever since we've been coming together, we're trying to keep everybody supported.

01:00Yeah, yeah, that's the way it's been for the past four years here.

01:04Since Covid, it's been hard.

01:06But I think it's hit every business hard.

01:08Of course, yeah.

01:09But we've all stayed together and tried to promote it as much as we could.

01:12Of course, yeah.

01:13So what's in the future for you then?

01:14So you're moving to...

01:15Brawley Old Market.

01:16I'll be there doing the butchers there.

01:17Yeah, absolutely.

01:18How long have you been in the game for now?

01:20I started when I was 17.

01:22And I'm 36 now, so what's that?

01:2518, 19 years, eh?

01:26Yeah.

01:27Quite well known in the market then, yourself.

01:30Yeah, yeah.

01:31Quite a few now.

01:33It's a bit of a shame, but obviously it's nice that everyone supports each other.

01:37That's it, yeah.

01:38It's nice.

01:39So I'm just going to stay positive.

01:42So here with Glenn.

01:43Glenn, you've been a shop here for 21 years, you say?

01:46Glenn and Quinn.

01:47Glenn and Quinn, yeah.

01:48You've been here for a shop for 21 years, wasn't it?

01:49Oh, for 21 years, yeah.

01:5021 years, yeah, since you moved down here.

01:51I mean, like, obviously it's a sad, sad day.

01:54Yeah, yeah.

01:55I do buy a lot of the secondhand books up east, which is for Raven's Rescue Charity.

01:59And I like the proper meat off the butchers.

02:01Absolutely, yeah.

02:02I was sad to miss that since Seeding Fields closed down some years ago.

02:06The other butchers.

02:07So I'm a supermarket mate now.

02:09Really?

02:10Yeah.

02:11I was going to say, what's the alternative now?

02:12Is it the supermarkets?

02:13Yeah.

02:14I've been in the oldies all right.

02:15Fortunately, we've killed it, but it was dying anyway.

02:17The market.

02:19It's a shame, isn't it?

02:20Because you can go to the supermarkets, but you don't really get the opportunity to have

02:21some face-to-face conversations that you do here with people.

02:22No, exactly.

02:23But there's a good friend, Registrar Lambert, but he couldn't afford to.

02:24So that only lasted a few, about a year.

02:25Do you think anything's caused it?

02:26Online shopping, Covid?

02:27I think it's the Brexit.

02:28Yeah.

02:29I saw it on the, I heard the radio interview.

02:30Yeah.

02:31Yeah.

02:32Yeah.

02:33Yeah.

02:34Yeah.

02:35Yeah.

02:36Yeah.

02:37Yeah.

02:38Yeah.

02:39Yeah.

02:40Yeah.

02:41Yeah.

02:42Yeah.

02:43Yeah.

02:44Yeah.

02:45Yeah.

02:46Yeah.

02:47Yeah.

02:48Yeah.

02:49Yeah.

02:50Yeah.

02:51Yeah.

02:52Yeah.

02:53Yeah.

02:54Yeah.

02:55Well, I think that's the end anyway.

02:56It's a bit of a shame, isn't it?

02:57Hopefully, obviously we all hope that the stores in here can get moved into the high

03:00streets or whatnot.

03:01Yeah.

03:02I mean, if some of these do go into the high streets, we could further these and further

03:06it, but there's still going to be shopping here.

03:10Yeah.

03:11Yeah.

03:12It's a bit of a shame, though, isn't it, honestly?

03:13It's another one of these that have died.

03:14Do you usually shop at the market?

03:15Do you usually shop at indoor markets?

03:16Yes, I prefer markets, yeah.

03:17I think everybody does, you know, face-to-face kind of interaction.

03:21A bit of a stroker as well.

03:22Yeah.

03:23A nice cop.

03:24Oh, yeah.

03:26It's a shame.

03:27Nah, it's a real shame, isn't it?

03:29Yeah, yeah.

03:30When they move to other places, are you going to keep on free-putting them when they move

03:34to, like, the high streets or...?

03:35I don't know, yeah.

03:36It'll be slow.

03:37Yeah.

03:39Righto.

03:46So, we're here with Carla.

03:47Carla, we're here in a...

03:48What's the shop called again?

03:49Ward's.

03:50Ward's.

03:51Ward's, yeah.

03:52So, you're actually moving...

03:53You said you're actually moving upstairs, aren't you?

03:55Yes, we've got our custom-printed shop upstairs, so we're actually moving our uniform provision

03:59up there as well, so that people can still come and try on.

04:03We're an online business as well, so they can come and click and collect.

04:06So, yeah, we're upstairs at the moment.

04:08Yeah, fantastic.

04:09So, just talk a little bit about the business that you said you started in an actual physical

04:12store.

04:13Is it three?

04:14No, we were online first, just before COVID, actually, in 2020, as we were going into 2020.

04:20And we actually found, as the business grew, and it's still growing at the moment as well,

04:25we found that people like something tangible.

04:28So, a lot of shopping has moved online, a lot of buyers' habits have changed through

04:33COVID, but we found that, for us particularly, as I say, people like to come and try things

04:38on.

04:39They like to be able to just pop by and pick something up when they've got time to come

04:43and collect it, and make sure they haven't got to waste time sending it back because

04:46it's the wrong item, because it doesn't fit their child, and particularly for our custom-print

04:50business as well.

04:51So, we work with a lot of businesses, large and small, to provide their custom-print needs

04:56through garments, brochures, anything you can think of that can be customised, really.

05:01Absolutely.

05:02Will there be any differences to, obviously, moving upstairs instead of being on the ground floor?

05:05Yeah, yeah.

05:06So, that's our difference at the moment.

05:08As I say, we are still growing all the time, year on year, we take on more schools.

05:13So, for us, it is a shame that this community is closing, moving away.

05:21Obviously, Nathan moved over to Bryony Hill.

05:24And so, it does feel like, after being from Sedgley, obviously, people see it as a milestone

05:30of changing times and things.

05:33So, from that respect, it is a shame.

05:36And it is a shame, because it was a nice, affordable space for people to access the

05:40high streets.

05:41But for us, as I say, we're business as usual and moving on, moving forward.

05:46Absolutely.

05:47So, this is obviously the fated last day for a lot of the traders, isn't it?

05:50I mean, what's the emotions been like?

05:53I think it's a real mixed bag, really.

05:57As I say, as I've just said, it is a shame that it's been here a long time.

06:03A lot of fond memories of people through Sedgley coming through Concord Market, and especially

06:07when they were at school and things like that.

06:09So, a lot of generations have grown up with the market.

06:12I think the problem with the people that wanted to relocate is just not having that affordable

06:19high street space.

06:20So, I think that's where the loss will occur, because there are no other places, premises

06:24for them to move into at the moment.

06:26So, obviously, I can feel their frustrations on that, because they haven't got anywhere

06:30to physically move to.

06:31It's not that they want to close down.

06:32It's not that they're not successful businesses.

06:34They are successful mobile businesses.

06:36So, that's the frustration along those lines, I guess.

06:39So, from that point of view, it is a shame to lose this facility.

06:43It'd be nice if it could be reinvested in, become a bit of a community hub as well, perhaps.

06:48That would be a great future for it.

06:52There's a lot of rumours about high street brands moving in and things like that, which

06:56is also great.

06:57We've had the Aldi recently open just around the corner, and I think that's brought a lot

07:02of people to Sedgley as well.

07:04But it would be nice just to do something a little bit different with this space and

07:07make it into more of a community hub.

07:08Yeah, especially with somewhere that's been around for so long.

07:11I mean, this is in the 1970s when it started, wasn't it?

07:14So, it's been around for over 40 years.

07:16So, turning something like this into a community space, I can imagine that being the general

07:21Yeah, well, I mean, even down to some kind of craft village as well.

07:24So, perhaps having smaller units where people can move in.

07:27And as I say, just still preserving that accessible, affordable high street space.

07:33Yeah, absolutely.

07:34So, wards, you're moving upstairs?

07:35We're moving upstairs, yeah.

07:36And we're also online, yeah.

07:37So, business as usual for our customers.

07:39That's perfect.

07:40Thank you very much.

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